There has been substantial activity in the field of electrical strip cable assemblies providing means to conduct electricity or electrical signals over relatively short distances as unobtrusively as possible. This has been used commonly in areas such as electrically interconnecting a loud speaker system to a phonograph or tape player in an entertainment type stereo system, to light an overhead picture, for use in doorbell-switch arrangement, or in security devices electrical interconnections.
The strip cable assembly comprises two parallel, thin, flat metal foil conductors laid upon the adhesive side of a single-sided adhesive coated tape insulative cover strip with a release strip covering the foil conductors and the remainder of the adhesive. The release strip is peeled from the cover strip and the tape is attached to an object. Commonly the electrical strip cable assembly is taped to a wall of a room and run between the home entertainment stereo system and the distal loud speakers. The strip cable assembly may then be painted over with the same color paint as was utilized on the room wall and the strip will be completely unnoticeable. The art in electrically conductive pressure sensitive adhesive tapes may be found in patents of Giellerup, U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,204; Richter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,617; and Wolf, U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,307.
As is obvious, there exists a need to remove the electrical energy or information from the electrical strip cable assembly. For example, the strip cable assembly must connect to the home entertainment stereo system output or perhaps, an electrical transformer output where electrical energy is desired to be supplied the line, both of which require connection with electrical wires. Further, it is obvious that you must remove the electrical energy or electrical signals from the tape strip cable assembly at the point where the loud speakers are located or, if the system is used in the doorbell type configuration, at the doorbell or at the push button switch.
Now there have been connectors adapted to remove electrical signals or energy from the tape strips, for example the Wolf Patent above and another Wolf Patent, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,921. However, the connectors which are presently known and available for the transistion from the tape strip assembly to an electrical wire type conductor are bulky, expensive, and require a great deal of time in preparing and attaching the connector to the strip cable assembly, or in addition, requiring the cable be terminated at the connector. Nor may the available connectors be easily removed from the strip cable assembly when it is no longer needed.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a connector which may be attached to the strip cable assembly with a minimum of time and effort whereby electrical power or signals may be removed from the strip cable assembly.